[URBAN NOTE] "Glasgow gives full backing to Scottish independence"

[rfmcdonald]

The Scotsman reports on one thing I found interesting in yesterday's referendum in Scotland, on the majority support for independence in Glasgow in its area. Three of the four ridings in Scotland that returned majority support were in the Glasgow urban area. Some speculation I've seen elsewhere suggests that the scale of Thatcher-era economic collapse helped create this upset with the British state.

With three quarters of registered adults in Glasgow voting - a turnout of 75% - the Yes campaign won by 53.5% to 46.5% of votes for No.

All of the city’s eight Scottish Parliament constituencies favoured Yes. Although the result did not change the national picture, it represented a significant blow for Glasgow’s Labour-led local authority and Johann Lamont, the leader of Scottish Labour.

[. . .]

In Glasgow, 363,664 votes were cast. In some wards, the Yes vote was conclusive, with a majority of nearly six thousand in Maryhill and Springburn and Glasgow Provan, results that will give Labour politicians in the city much cause for concern.

Although the turnout was lower than other parts of the country, it still made electoral history in the city. In the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, the region recored an unenviable turnout of just 51.2%, the lowest of any local authority and well under the national average of 60.2%.

On the ground yesterday, numerous polling stations across the city’s boundaries reported lengthy queues when they opened at 7am. One, in the southside area of Battlefield, reported 150 votes cast in the first 10 minutes. Throughout the day, the turnout remained very high, with the vast logistical operation seeming to run smoothly. In all, there were 438 polling stations in 200 buildings across the city, with 1,188 staff on hand.

Given the size of its population, the largest count in the country was expected to play have an influential bearing on proceedings. In the end, it was good news for Yes, but it came too late to bolster a flagging campaign, although it will likely cause tremors in Glasgow’s political landscape for some time to come.